Achieves 100th Career Win
The night of February 11th was a special night for the Menno girls basketball team and its coach. With a victory over the Freeman Academy Bobcats, Coach Jacque Liebl earned the 100th win of her coaching career.
Mrs. Liebl started coaching basketball when she began her student teaching job at Parkston High School in 1992. She helped coach the junior high girls program and also helped with the high school team. “I really enjoyed my experience there and I learned a lot,” says Coach Liebl.
In January of 1993 she started teaching and coaching in Menno, she started with the 5th and 6th grade boys and moved up to the 7th and 8th grade boys and also coached the 7th and 8th grade girls. She was the high school girl’s assistant coach throughout the years before taking over the head coaching job; she has been the Menno girl’s head coach for the past seven years.
Mrs. Liebl’s first real coaching job was after she graduated from high school and decided to coach girl’s softball in her hometown of Avon. “I really enjoyed my experience of coaching and it just took off from there.” She started coaching because she has always been a sports fanatic. “Growing up in a large family helped that along,” said Liebl.
Mrs. Liebl has always loved the game of basketball but unfortunately suffered knee injuries, which complicated the matter of playing basketball and helped her to decide in college to take on coaching the sport instead.
Mrs. Liebl has many wonderful memories and highlights of her coaching career. The first year (1999-2000) she took over the head-coaching job and the team started out the year 7-0 which had never happened in the Menno girls’ basketball history.
Coach Liebl’s ultimate highlight would be going to the State B Tourney in the fall of 2000. It was her second year as head coach and she was really a rookie at the job. MHS met up with their main rival Hanson in the Region 5B final at the Corn Palace. After beating them by five points at home, they were ready for a tough and stressful game. A phantom foul call sent Hanson’s best free throw shooter to the line, which tied the game and sent it into overtime. The Wolves managed to win, sending them to the State B Tourney in Mitchell.
Getting to state is easier said than done, especially in a South Dakota blizzard.
Once they got there they ended up playing the eventual state champs Waverly South Shore. “I felt that we could have been state champs, but we ended up with 6th place.”
In the 2001-02 season they had a good season, ending with a record of 14-6.
The next season the Wolves started their long relationship with the Mount Vernon Fillies. They had a talented 2002-2003 team, winning districts against Emery but losing to Mt. Vernon in the region finals.
In 2003-2004, the team won 14 games in a row, and after winning the Conrbelt Conference Tourney, they expected to return to the state tourney. “We had some tough breaks that didn’t go our way and ended up getting beat by the eventual state champs 59-68.” They ended up with the schools best ever season record 20-2, something Coach Liebl is extremely proud of.
In 2004-2005, the team was comprised of mostly seniors. They won districts again, beating Freeman on their home court. They had a lot of fun taking down the nets. They ended up playing against Mt. Vernon and were overpowered by the state champions again that year. The teams record was 14-8.
Other highlights would be the games where Breanne Willmeth and Vanessa Smidt reached the 1000th point milestone.
One of the most rewarding parts of her coaching job is watching the young ladies mature into young adults. “The kids make it fun,” she says. “I expect a lot out of them and they give it to me. I always tell them if it were easy everyone would play which is not the case, so I give credit to the kids for all their time and effort. I am blessed to have many talented young ladies and I am glad I got the chance to be part of their lives. Of course it is fun to win, but is isn’t all about winning. You learn a lot about yourself when you win and when you lose. I enjoy the kids and it is a lot of fun to watch them develop into better players and grow up in life,” said Mrs. Liebl.
The most challenging parts of her job are the time and effort coaching takes. It’s much more than what the fans see at games. There is so much more to coaching than people realize. More challenges are the practices, games, first aid taping, stats, media, scouting, summer ball, open gym, team camps, busy schedules etc. “I give credit to the kids for wanting a great program,” said Coach Liebl.
During the 2002-03 school year the girl’s basketball season moved from the fall of the year to the winter. Mrs. Liebl didn’t think she would like the switch to winter, but after doing it for a few years, she really enjoys it. “I like having a break in the fall to get things ready for school and the upcoming basketball season and having time after school to do some personal things while it is still nice and light out. The winter season really goes by fast and that makes the school year just fly. It is time consuming at times in the winter, especially since my husband coaches the boys. It is a crazy four months, but we make it through it. Probably the part I don’t like about the winter season is that I don’t get a chance to attend the college basketball games that I would like to, especially if former players are playing.”
On February 20th the Menno Girls again defeated the Bobcats in the first round of the district tournament. This win has started Mrs. Liebl off on her next set of 100 victories. Who knows when she will reach that 200th career win!
—Timm Schelske
